A Separation won best foreign language film at the Academy Awards Sunday night. Not only is this a really interesting, well-acted movie, but the plot revolves around a possible wrongful conviction in progress. As the story unfolds, and the viewer learns more and more about the case, one gets a sense of how the Iranian criminal justice system operates. The judge in the case hears “evidence” and rules on the merits in a small office with each witness and the defendant just sort of hashing it out and arguing with each other until the judge gets a feel for what he thinks happened. In the process, questions are raised about the reliability of different forms of evidence, and how wrongful convictions can happen to anyone–even the respected and privileged in society. The bottom line is that the film is wonderful, and I’d recommend to anyone regardless of his or her interest in wrongful convictions or comparative criminal justice systems. I’m not the only one who liked it, as it got a rare 99% approval rate from the critics on rottentomatoes.com. Save it to your Netflix queue here.

A friend of mine, whom I KNOW was wrongfully convicted, recently died in prison. I would just like to get his name and those facts, plus the fact that there’s a small possibility the crime may be linked to James “Whitey” Bulger onto the internet so if anyone’s looking, it can be found. I would appreciate any advice you have on how to accomplish this end. Thanks. Joan P. Beckta